Taking Back Thanksgiving

I love Thanksgiving. Yet I am afraid for it. As it stands now, it seems to be a nationally-sanctioned day to eat yourself sick, watch parades and football, and make preparations to get up at 4 am the next morning to go spend money you don’t have on a new Xbox for Christmas. What could be more American, right?

If I’m sounding judgmental, forgive me. I don’t mean to be, because I’m as guilty of this as the next person. I scan Pinterest boards for Thanksgiving recipes like a junkie looking for his next score. I watch the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade long after my kids have thrown their hands up in disgust that I won’t let them change the channel to something “less boring.” And every year, I promise myself that I won’t eat until it hurts, and yet, somehow, I do. So I get it.

But I’ve gotten some big lessons recently in the preciousness of life, so I’m wanting to make Thanksgiving a little more meaningful this year. And how do we do that? Simple. By looking to the name of the holiday.

I give thanks for my family, even when they drive me nuts.

I give thanks for my dog, who is perfect.

I give thanks to live where I do, where I can see mountains and God’s glory all around me every day.

I give thanks for the work I do, even though I complain about it a lot.

I give thanks for my health, because even though I often feel like I’m falling apart, I could be much worse off.

I give thanks for my friends and my church family, who support me in times good and bad.